Evaluating the impact of the EU-SA TDCA on South Africa's policy space

Abstract

Economic partnerships between developed and developing countries such as bilateral agreements are often seen as a platform for the attainment of economic growth, improvement of living standards, creation of employment opportunities as well as the reduction of poverty. However there have been some critiques centred around the vulnerabilities involved in developing countries committing themselves to bilateral agreements, as such commitments can cause them to fall short of realising their own developmental aspirations. The Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement (TDCA) between the member states of the European Union (EU) and South Africa is a fitting case to examine this concretely. The economic partnership between the European Union (EU) and South Africa has provisions that constrain the policy space of South Africa to pursue a beneficiation strategy necessary for the diversification of the country’s economy. Therefore, this paper seeks to analyse whether the implementation of South African government’s progressive plan, namely the New Growth Path - that aims to utilise a beneficiation strategy as one mechanism for not only diversifying the economy, but also improving growth levels and creating employment - will be challenged in the context of this agreement. It is an agreement regarded as a means of stripping away the policy instruments that South Africa can utilise to pave its own developmental trajectory.